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Logging · head to head

Loggly vs Papertrail

Loggly logo

Loggly

Logging

Cloud-Based Log Management and Analytics

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Papertrail logo

Papertrail

Logging

Cloud-Hosted Log Management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Loggly the free Lite plan caps ingest at 200 MB per day with 7 day retention; Papertrail log Observability starts at $5.00 per GB per month
  • They diverge on capability: Loggly covers Real-time search, Papertrail covers Real-time tail.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Loggly and Papertrail actually diverge.

Attributes where Loggly and Papertrail differ
AttributeLogglyPapertrail
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
Founded20092011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Logging).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Loggly

  • Real-time search
  • Custom dashboards
  • Alert management

Only in Papertrail

  • Real-time tail
  • Saved searches
  • System alerts

Both cover

  • Log aggregation
  • API
  • Webhooks
  • REST
  • Web support
  • Api support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Loggly

  • Cloud-hosted log aggregation for small and mid-sized engineering teamsnot Papertrail
  • Alerting on log patterns via email, webhook, PagerDuty or Slacknot Papertrail
  • Log analysis alongside SolarWinds infrastructure and application monitoringnot Papertrail

Papertrail

  • Aggregating syslog and application logs from many hosts into one searchable streamnot Loggly
  • Tail-and-search style troubleshooting during incidentsnot Loggly
  • Long-term log archiving to Amazon S3 for later analysisnot Loggly

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Loggly

  • The free Lite plan caps ingest at 200 MB per day with 7 day retention
  • API access and archiving to Amazon S3 start on the Pro plan at $159 per month billed annually
  • Federated identity management is an Enterprise feature, starting at $279 per month billed annually
  • The Standard plan at $79 per month is limited to 1 GB per day and 3 source groups
  • Maximum retention is 90 days and only on Enterprise; Standard is fixed at 15 days

Papertrail

  • Log Observability starts at $5.00 per GB per month
  • Usage beyond the plan volume is billed at a 30% higher price per GB and is capped at 200% extra
  • Transferred volume is measured as message length plus 50 bytes of metadata per message, so metadata counts against the quota

Pricing, plan by plan

Loggly

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log aggregation
    • Real-time search
    • Custom dashboards

Papertrail

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Log aggregation
    • Real-time tail
    • Saved searches

Which should you pick?

Choose Loggly if

  • You need real-time search.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want custom dashboards.
Loggly review

Choose Papertrail if

  • You need real-time tail.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want saved searches.
Papertrail review

Questions people ask

Is Loggly or Papertrail better?
Neither clearly leads. Loggly starts at Free and Papertrail at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Loggly or Papertrail?
Loggly starts at Free and Papertrail at Free.
Does Loggly or Papertrail run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Loggly for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Loggly best used for?
Loggly is most often used for cloud-hosted log aggregation for small and mid-sized engineering teams, alerting on log patterns via email, webhook, pagerduty or slack, log analysis alongside solarwinds infrastructure and application monitoring. Of those, cloud-hosted log aggregation for small and mid-sized engineering teams and alerting on log patterns via email, webhook, pagerduty or slack are not what Papertrail is typically brought in for.
What can Loggly do that Papertrail cannot?
Loggly covers Real-time search, Custom dashboards, Alert management. Papertrail covers Real-time tail, Saved searches, System alerts. Both handle Log aggregation, API, Webhooks, REST.
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